God – What Does This Mean?

Church Words: Omnipotent

Encore Post:

[Fifteenth in a series of posts on church words]

When we say that God is almighty, it seems simple enough. We can even explain it to a three-year-old: God can do whatever he wants. Yet the more we think about it, that God is omnipotent, παντοκράτορ — all-powerful, the more we have trouble taking it all in. We get a sense of this when a child asks the snarky question, “Can God make a rock that he can’t lift?” or when an opponent of the faith asks the classic question, “What did God do before he made the world?” The questions normally get the answer they deserve: an equally silly response like: “he made hell, so he has a place to send people who ask such questions!”

Such questions point out that there is a limit to how much we can understand about our maker. They show what happens when we try to pit one quality (attribute) of God against another. So … For God, who is eternal, time does not exist. There is no before or after creation for him. He makes all the rules, so he doesn’t have to follow them. That’s what makes a miracle possible.

When it comes to what God cannot do, we are inclined to answer “Nothing.” After all, Jesus said, What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Lk 18:27). Yet the Book of Hebrews tells us, “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb 6:18), and St. Paul states that God “cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13), in short, God cannot act contrary to his nature. So, God does not want to do any of these things.

People respect power and ability. They admire the powerful, dream of what they could do with more power, and are willing to fight for it, sometimes doing things they hate along the way. Money speaks because it brings with it power. They will sacrifice almost anything to gain power. It really is not power itself that is so attractive. Power lets you do whatever you want. The problem with power is that sinful people cannot be trusted with it. “Power tends to corrupt,” said Lord Acton, “And absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The only one who truly is all-powerful — all-mighty — omnipotent is God. God can do whatever he wants. When God spoke, the world was created. (Genesis 1) By his word, he keeps the universe running (Hebrews 1:3). Even when things seem impossible to us, for God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26) What this means for us is that he can and does keep his promises to us. The real question, then, is not what can God do, but what does he want to do for us?

Where people come to doubt God’s power or his existence, it is almost always because he does not do what they think he should do. “If there is a good god,” they say, “then he would…” — eliminate disease, suffering, and death — right now! He would shower them with blessings, making you rich and comfortable. When he does not do these things, and on their timetable, people will complain. What they should do is ask: “What is God’s will?” “What does he want to do?”

What God wants to do is to save us and to live with us forever. He loved us before he made the world, chose us to be adopted as his children, to make us holy and blameless in his presence. This he accomplished through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross, by which he redeemed us, earned for us the forgiveness of sins, and sealed us for eternity by His Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 1:3-14)

So, what God wants to do is seek and save the lost. With his power, he can do this and has already done so for us. What he also wants to do is to work his power through us. He sends us with his word to proclaim, his sacraments to share, and gifts to care for our neighbors. So, we are part of his plan to carry out his will. It is through us he chooses to exercise his almighty power, for the praise of his grace, the salvation of the lost, and the restoration of his creation to perfection. For with God, nothing is impossible.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Church Words: Omnipresent

[Fourteenth in a series of posts on church words] Encore Post: In most non-Christian religions, God is seen as very far away. He is the High God, who made the world and left it to others to cope as best they can. Even in popular American culture, we think of God as tucked away up in Heaven. Our songs tell us “God is watching us… from a distance,” “And the three men I admire most The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost They caught the last train for the coast…” Ever since Adam and Eve fell into sin, people have imagined they could hide from God. (Genesis 3:8)

All these concepts are mistaken. God is omnipresent — he is everywhere. God is not far away, he is very near. He fills the heavens and the earth. (Jeremiah 23:23-24) No one can hide from him. (Ps 139:6–12) No one can escape his judgement or is beyond his care.

Yet he is not a part of his creation, as the Hindus, Buddhists and others believe. For them, we are god, we just do not know it yet. God is a separate, distinct being. God is not a man (Numbers 23:19), either as these Eastern religions teach or as one of many physical being that grew into Gods, as the Mormons believe. He is busy endlessly maintaining his creation, supporting it with his power, directing the course of events, working through his word and his church to seek and to save the lost, and making new creatures — including each and every new human life.

But that is not the end of the ways God is present. In the Son of God, God became one of us. Jesus is in every way human, except without sin. He is Emmanuel — God with us. He lived a perfect life for us, suffered and died for us, rose and ascended to Heaven for us. And yet he has, in a mysterious way, not gone away at all. He is “by our side upon the plain (the field of battle) with his good gifts and spirit.” When we gather for worship, even two or three of us, he is there among us.

And yet, Christ is even more present in a way so personal we cannot begin to understand it. In the Lord’s Supper, he is really present, in the flesh and blood sacrificed for us. This body he gives with bread for us to eat and this blood he gives with wine for us to drink. In this way, he is with us so that we cannot miss him. So, God’s omnipresence is a very good thing for us. It means we are never alone, from the day we are conceived to the day we enter his eternal presence and finally see his face.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Church Words: Time and Eternity

[Thirteenth in a series of posts on church words] Encore Post: Everything in our lives is measured by time. We schedule events, record births and deaths to the second. We measure how long something takes and celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. When we’re young, it seems like we will live forever. With age, we come to realize life is very short. It is so much a part of our lives that we do not realize it will come to an end someday. “Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away; they fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the op’ning day. ” (Isaac Watts, “Our God, our Help in Ages Past.”) God is, however, eternal.

Eternity (עוֹלָם — olam — forever, everlasting in Hebrew; τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων — tous aionas ton aionon — the ages of ages, forever in Greek) means timeless. The Bible uses the term in two ways. The word can mean to last a very long time. The Passover and circumcision are described in the Old Testament as eternal, lasting throughout the Old Testament age, being replaced by the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. Jesus promised to be with us forever, to the end of time itself.

Most of the time, however, the word means “timeless, without end.” Since we are creatures in time, we cannot comprehend that God has no beginning or end. To help us understand, the Bible uses descriptions to get at the idea. God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, A to Z. For God, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. “Before Abraham was,” Jesus said, “I Am.”

For sinners, God’s eternity is bad news. You cannot out wait God. He lives forever and his law never changes. There’s no running out the clock. There is no statute of limitations before his throne. All will render an account to him. Yet it is not only the law that is eternal — God’s love and mercy are eternal, too. Before he made the world, God loved us. To redeem us, he sent his Son at just the right time. On the cross, Jesus paid the price of our sin in full. Now his verdict over us for our crimes is an eternal “not guilty” for the sake of the merits of God’s beloved Son.

For Christians, then, God’s eternity is very good news. He promised to be with us forever — to the end of time itself. So, we are never alone. The day will quickly come when he will call us from our graves, purge all sin from our lives, and transform our time-bound bodies into eternal ones. Then we will see the face of the timeless one and live happily ever after.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Church Words: Evangelical

[Fifth in a series of posts on church words] Encore Post:

The phrase “Evangelical Lutheran” may sound strange to your ears. When you think of the word “Evangelical,” you think of Baptists, revivals, altar calls, accepting Jesus as your personal Savior, the rapture, and many similar notions, measures, and cultural traditions. Like F. C. D. Wyneken, you might think: “I don’t know whether it is of God or the Devil, but it is certainly not Lutheran!” You’d be right! This kind of evangelicalism is not Lutheran at all.

You might be surprised that Lutherans actually coined the word “Evangelical.” It comes from the New Testament Greek word: εὐαγγελίον (euangelion, evangel). It means “good message, good news” — the gospel! At first, Lutherans did not call themselves “Lutheran” at all. Their enemies made that term up to suggest that Lutherans were not catholic or orthodox, but were heretics. Lutherans wanted to be known as gospel-oriented. Their faith was founded on the teaching that salvation is by faith alone through the grace of God alone, for Christ’s sake alone. For centuries, they preferred to be called Evangelical — and until the 1800s, when someone in Europe used the name Evangelical, Evangelisch, they meant Lutheran.

Like the word “Protestant,” which also used to mean “Lutheran,” other non-Catholics really liked the sound of it. Many of them also cherish the gospel of salvation by the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. They even like the phrase: “salvation by grace or faith alone.” So, even though they believe very different things from Lutherans, they call themselves Evangelical. Since there are far more Christians in this tradition than Lutherans, they are the ones who come to mind when people say “Evangelical.”

Unlike the word “Protestant,” however, Lutherans refuse to give up this word, because it summarizes what we believe so well. So, you will notice, we put the word in our church names, include it in our Baptism and Confirmation services, and at other times. For the Good News is that it is not God’s will that sinners like us perish forever. So in the person of Jesus Christ, our Lord, he set aside all his power and authority, was born a man in the womb of Mary, bore our sins on the cross, paid their price by his suffering and death and rose again so that our sins might be forgiven, we might rise on the last day from the grave and live with him forever. All that is packed into the simple word, “Evangelical.” So we use it proudly, but add the word “Lutheran” to keep from being confused with others.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

My God, My God Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Encore Post: Good Friday is the most somber day in the Church Year. On this day, the price of our sin is paid out in full — by God Himself. The ancient plan for our salvation had been unfolding for thousands of years. The descendant of Eve, of Noah, of Abraham, and of David was born to the Virgin Mary. The Son of God, the Author of Life himself, became one of us. At the Jordan River, he made holy the waters of Baptism and took on himself the sins of the world. On Mt. Zion, ancient Mt. Moriah, where the Angel of the Lord stayed the hand of Abraham, God’s Son, His only Son, whom he loves, was condemned to die as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Sentenced by Pilate, he began his final suffering and was nailed to the cross. Even as he began to die, the forgiving began — first of those who killed him and then of a thief on a nearby cross.

The greatest mystery of all came at the height of his suffering. The Eternal Son of God cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) in the language of his boyhood. We should not be surprised that we cannot understand this profound moment. Yet we know a few things for sure. We know this very moment was revealed in detail in the Scripture itself. Jesus’ words are a quotation from his father, David, in Psalm 22, written a thousand years earlier. We know Jesus felt abandoned by God. His prayers unanswered and his loneliness show that he shares fully in our humanity. He is like us in every way, which is why his sacrifice on our behalf is possible. We know that it is our sin he paid for on the cross, and that price is unimaginably high. We are moved as we extinguish one light after another, remembering the depth of his suffering.

Yet this is not the last word we hear from the suffering of our Lord. As he died, he said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) Sin was atoned for, the power of the Devil defeated, and the seal of the grave soon to be broken. Jesus knew the Father had not abandoned him. He once again quoted his father, David, in Psalm 31, “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46), and entered his three-day rest in the tomb.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Lamb of God, Pure and Holy

Encore Post: The night God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt, the Hebrews selected perfect lambs from their flocks. They had no injuries, blemishes, or birth defects. These lambs were slaughtered, their blood smeared on their doors, their meat roasted for a feast. That night, the Angel of Death passed over their houses as the firstborn of all Egypt perished.

On the evening God delivered us all from sin, death, and the power of the devil, the disciples arranged a Passover meal for them and for Jesus. John the Baptist had called him the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. He took bread and said, “This is my body given for you,” and wine and said, “This cup is the New Testament in my blood.” St. Paul calls him “our Passover, who is sacrificed for us.”

The Lord’s Supper, then, is our New Passover. In it, God gives us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The Angel of Death passes over us. In baptism, we are united with him in his death on the cross. We enter the Red Sea of death with him and rise to new life when he breaks the seal of our graves.

Once again in Holy Week, we follow the Lamb of God as he goes to his death willingly. We pray as he takes each step,

Lamb of God, pure and holy,
Who on the cross did suffer…
Have mercy on us, O Jesus.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Forgiveness of Sins, Life and Salvation

Encore Post:

[Sixty-second in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

The Lord’s Supper is a great gift to us. With bread and wine, Jesus gives us his Body and Blood to eat and to drink. This gift would be precious, even if that was all there was to it. But God gives us much more in this sacrament. He meets our greatest need, to be forgiven of our sins.

The greatest disaster that comes from Adam and Eve’s disobedience is that it separated them — and us — from God. Cut off from the source of life itself. It brought death to all of us. By giving his body on the cross and shedding his blood there, he paid the price for sin, earning us the forgiveness of sins and reconciling us with God. With the reason for our eternal death removed, the seal of the grave is broken. We are saved and will live with him eternally.

In Baptism, God applies these benefits to us. Yet our sinful nature remains in us. “The old Adam is a good swimmer,” the old quip goes. (No, Martin Luther likely did not say it!) Constantly harassed by the world and its temptations, the sweet lies of Satan, and the lure of our passions, we sin often. The Lord’s Supper forgives our sins and assures us of God’s love for us. It is communion with Jesus in the most intimate way. It is as the ancient liturgy for anointing the sick, “bread for the journey.”

So, we receive this precious gift often. After all, Jesus is really present there. And where he is, there we also want to be.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Lazarus, Come Out!

Encore Post: Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were close friends of Jesus. When Jesus came to Jerusalem, He often stayed with them in their home in Bethany, a little town two miles away. So, when Lazarus fell ill, it was personal, even more so because Jesus knew his friend would die. Jesus had raised some people from the dead. Yet the resurrection of Lazarus would be one of his greatest miracles and would set in motion the events leading to his suffering, death, and resurrection.

So, two weeks before his own resurrection, Jesus went to comfort his friends. He said the words that touch a chord in our hearts even today: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26) Still, he grieved for his friend. Then, even though Lazarus had been dead for four days, Jesus ordered the tomb opened and called Lazarus back from the grave.

Previously, Jesus had raised several people from the dead. The resurrection of Lazarus was different because it occurred in close proximity to the priests’ homes. The Sadducees could ignore stories about Jesus as just fairy tales when they happened in Galilee. When their neighbors actually witnessed Lazarus coming back from the dead, they could not dismiss it.

When Caiaphas, the High Priest, heard about this miracle, he said, “It is better that one man die than the people.” He was right, even though he did not know why. From this moment on, the priests and the Pharisees planned to kill Jesus and Lazarus. A week later, Jesus would ride into Jerusalem amid lambs destined for sacrifice. With his death, he destroyed death, its angel passing over us forever.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Stay Calm and Remember Your Baptism

Encore Post:

[Fifty-Fourth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

While Baptism is a one-time event, its blessings last a lifetime. Baptism is an event outside of us, observed by witnesses and recorded in books. Especially when we are baptized as children, there is no question that God loves us, that he adopted us as his children, and that we will live with him forever. When we are baptized, we realize that we are not seekers, but that God sought us and found us. We can be sure that we are saved and that we will live with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit forever.

In our sin-filled world, where we are at war with the world, the devil, and our flesh, life can get confusing very fast. As we are confronted with our sinful nature, we may wonder how God can love us, whether we please him, or can ever measure up to his standards. At times like these, we can remember our baptism. No matter what happens, this is the central fact of our lives. I am baptized.

St. Paul reminds us that in baptism, we are united to Christ in his death. (Romans 6:3-11) Christ bore our sins on the cross, suffered, and died to pay the full penalty we deserved for them. Because we are baptized, when he died, we died. When He rose from the dead, we rose to new life. Now we can face anything that comes our way.

Each day, we can prepare ourselves in prayer. We can make the sign of the cross, remembering that we are baptized, thank God for his mercies, and remember that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Who Should Be Baptized?

Encore Post:

[Fifty-Second in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

At first, this seems like a strange question. Since God uses baptism to save, why not baptize everyone? In fact, the words Jesus used to institute baptism says: “Going, make disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (my translation of Matthew 28:19) The reason why this is an important question is that baptism is not some kind of magic spell that works as long as you do everything right. Baptism saves everyone who believes in its promises that God adopts them as his children, forgives their sins for the sake of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and saves them from sin, death, and the power of the devil. It is for everyone who is baptized in the name of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

It is at that point that Evangelicals object to the baptism of infants and young children. How can children believe if they do not understand any of this? This concern comes from a different understanding of faith than Lutherans have. We see faith as a trust in God and his promises. James tells us that the demons believe, too, and they shudder. (James 2:19) No one trusts more than little children. Jesus holds them up as examples of faith, in fact. (Mark 10:13-16, Luke 18:15-17) I’ll say more on infant baptism in a later post.

For the same reason, many Protestants urge people baptized as children to be baptized again. The first Christians to do this lived during the Reformation and were called Anabaptists, which means “baptized again.” Lutherans believe that once a person is baptized in the name of the Triune God, they do not need to be baptized again. Since God himself is the one baptizing and in it he makes us his children, sealing us with the Holy Spirit forever, we do not need to be rebaptized.

The only time Lutherans would re-baptize someone would be if their church was not Christian at all. So, when Mormons, who believe in a false god, come to faith in the real Jesus, they would be baptized. Of growing concern for us are churches, including ones that call themselves Lutheran, that baptize in names other than Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These Christians might need to be baptized again so they can be sure it was in the name that God himself reveals to us and with which Jesus commanded us to baptize.

In short, baptism is for people who believe in what it promises — that for the sake of Jesus and his sacrifice, our sins are forgiven, we belong to him, and are sealed with the name of the one and only true God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana